Paraguay: Displaced Indigenous Community To Return To Ancestral Lands

After living next to a major highway for nearly two decades without access to water, regular food supplies or even land to cultivate--the Enxet community of Yakye Axa can finally return to a normal way of life on their ancestral lands in southeastern Paraguay. Amnesty International reports.

Paraguay: Land dispute victory for displaced indigenous community

3 February 2012 – A land deal finalized this week between Paraguayan authorities and a land owner in the country’s central region will allow a long-displaced indigenous community to rebuild in safety and dignity, Amnesty International said today.

For almost two decades, the Yakye Axa indigenous community have fought a legal battle to return to their ancestral lands while around 90 families were forced to live in destitute conditions alongside a nearby highway.

Years ago, private landowners moved in and took over their lands. Indigenous families were dispersed among privately owned cattle ranches, where many were mistreated and exploited.

A lawyer representing the Yakye Axa yesterday told Amnesty International that the families in the community will soon move to the newly acquired land, comprising more than 12,000 hectares within the ancestral lands of the Enxet ethnic group